Legal Access

Where and how to get safe and legal access to medical marijuana around the World

United Kingdom

Access within the UK is limited to the pharmaceutical cannabis based medicine Sativex. This can only be prescribed to MS sufferers and is at your doctors discretion, so differing postcodes can effect access. It should also be noted that although the NHS in Wales will subsidise Sativex, the NHS in England will not, so typical treatments can cost up to £500 a month. All other cannabis use or production in the UK is Illegal. Please see our UK Cannabis Guidelines section for more information.

Europe

Across much of Europe cannabis has been decriminalised, although that doesn’t mean it is legal yet.

The most advanced country for access is definitely Spain where there are over 2000 licensed legal marijuana associations; it is legal for anyone to join one of these associations and purchase medical marijuana. They are all run for the purpose of community benefit and are non-profit. Not all of these associations are selling cannabis oil yet, but a wide variety of medical strains are normally available. One can also grow up to six plants at home in Spain .

The same can be said for the Netherlands where one can purchase cannabis from licensed coffee shops or obtain a prescription from Bedrocan, the only company in Europe that produces raw cannabis for medical use (under licence from the Dutch Ministry of Health). It must be noted that it is still illegal to import cannabis into the UK, even if you have obtained it legally. Many U.K based cancer patients are already becoming “medical marijuana refugees” forced to move to Spain to get legal access to this valuable medicine.

Rest of the World

Uruguay is the first country to fully legalise cannabis use and production. Access there is readily available; it is legal to grow 6 plants within a home and production of cannabis oil is rapidly increasing. Cannabis is also legal in North Korea and Bangladesh, however little is known about the success or leniancy of their laws due to the formers closed borders and the latters lack of research.

U.S.A

In the USA there are currently 23 states where medical marijuana is available (9 more awaiting legislation). From these 23, there are 4 (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington) where cannabis is fully legal both recreationally and medically.

Much like in the UK, the US federal government deems cannabis to have no medicinal value, however due to the Constitution, States have the right to govern themselves and thus override federal law where applicable .

If you are within any one of the aforementioned States, it is legal for you to purchase medical marijuana orcannabis oil as long as you don’t cross state lines with it.

The first States to fully legalise medical marijuana were California and recreationally, Colorado where the best access and research has been conducted so far; the latter being home to thousands of Americans who are relocating to obtain legal access to cannabis. Many other states are in early legislation stages while some have CBD-only cannabis laws allowing access for Epilepsy sufferers only. The Americans for Safe Access website lists all State Laws in full detail.